Case Study

Nearly six years ago Allscripts Homecare (a provider of healthcare information systems serving 600 providers of home healthcare, hospice, and private-duty services) installed Microsoft SharePoint as a platform for improving communication as it was imperative that all stakeholders within the business were able to access accurate, up-to-date information for their business needs.

It's as important to share information globally amongst our stakeholders as it is to share with the people across the hallsays David Staudenmaier (Product Development Manager). It's inefficient to have to repeat information or constantly tell the people you work with where the information is stored he adds. "It's also important for all of the new employees who are working here to know that vital information is always available in SharePoint. Its hierarchical structure defines the levels of users access across the company and the rules for how to upload and access information. It therefore provides a holistic project management system.

For example : Allscripts Homecare have two major release charters per year that communicate a wide range of important information to key stakeholders such as marketing teams, sales teams, service teams and customers. Marketing and sales teams need to know what new software is coming, service teams need to know what is being repaired and the customer needs to know that their issues are being fixed in a timely manner. In addition, SharePoint provides employees with alerts in relation to any further release charter changes. Its structure also offers specific information points such as research and development, support, and services. Within each grouping sub-areas can be organised as needed, allowing employees to drill down for specific details as required.

As soon as it began to publish the release charters in an easy-to-read and easy-to-access manner using SharePoint Allscripts Homecare quickly observed significant reductions in miscommunications that had previously impacted productivity. In addition SharePoint has provided the organisation with a single collaboration solution for managing day-to-day operations around product releases; customer beta programmes; vendor partnerships; new feature designs; internal and external training; cross-department operationalisation of new products; regulatory compliance; strategic product road maps; prioritisation of enhancement requests and defect repair items and much more. It also has a section for frequently asked questions where employees can quickly find information on any product, feature, or integration point.

Another important element is the process publishing facility that enables Allscripts Homecare to publish detailed descriptions of the variety of work processes upon which it runs its business. Any employee can visit this section to get information on the processes for handling a defect or steps that should be taken when dealing with an unhappy customer. The answers are right there. All the employee must do is follow the designated steps.

Allscripts Homecare soon realised the additional benefits for communication, organisation, and productivity by publishing information from all areas within the company and integrating real-time automated updates from SoftServe. Prior to implementing SharePoint, business information was exchanged in a less efficient, time-consuming manner, usually involving emails, phone calls, or meetings. The extensive use of SharePoint has eliminated outdated or inconsistent data which means that employees no longer worry about the integrity of their business intelligence and can feel confident in giving their customers accurate information. Because we get so much email, it's easy to misplace the information or delete it accidentally, making it difficult to keep track of what information you're seeing. Having a single place to organise this much information was vital saysStaudenmaier. He believes that one of the best features of SharePoint is that it requires virtually no training even for the most "technically challenged" employee.

The Product Development Division run by Staudenmaier initiated and took ownership of the initial project for integrating SharePoint as a key business management tool within the business. Now the entire company is using it and different areas of the company are creating their own sharepoint-specific sites to meet their specific business intelligence needs.

Staudenmaier believes that this project has been a success because SharePoint provides a common platform and online collaboration solution for the communication and organisation of business intelligence between various stakeholders ensuring that the right people are working on the right features at the right time. He sums it up as follows

Together we are able to deliver greater value for our customers on time and within budget.

What are the key tools and principles of successful project management? (20 marks)

Specifically you should answer the following questions:

• Why is meant by the term project documentation? Give three examples of essential project documents and why these are key to the successful implementation of a project. (5 Marks)

• Why do so many transformational change projects overrun and incur greater costs than originally anticipated? (5 Marks)

• Why is the continuous monitoring of key performance indicators and a tolerance for mistakes so essential to the successful implementation of projects? (5 Marks)

• Why is it important to create a pilot project for transformational change? Was this the secret to success in the organisation described in the case study? (5 Marks)